Spain U21s 5 Macedonia U21s 0: Marco Asensio fires stunning hat-trick as La Roja thump Macedonia
Real Madrid star bags a treble as Spaniards fire out a warning to every other nation with thumping start to Euros

SPAIN fired a warning to every other nation as they thumped Macedonia 5-0 in their opening match of the European Under-21s Championship.
A hat-trick from Marco Asensio and strikes from Saul Niguez and Gerard Deulofeu fired Albert Celades’ side to victory.
Despite the dominant scoreline, La Roja had to withstand several scares of their own as the Macedonians attempted to take the game to their opponents.
In fact, up until the opener on ten minutes, it was they who were in control.
Boban Nikolov fired one wide of the post before Saul’s stunner broke the deadlock.
The Atletico Madrid midfielder acrobatically met Jose Gaya’s cross with a superb overhead kick and powered the ball past the goalkeeper.
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Not to be outdone, Asensio then grabbed his third in thrilling fashion too six minutes later.
The Real Madrid attacker showed great technique as he thundered a long-ranger straight into the top corner.
He went close again before the half hour mark when his effort was tipped over the bar but the third eventually arrived ten minutes before the break.
Defender Egzon Bejtulai was penalised for handball and Deulofeu slotted home from the spot.
Macedonia twice came close to pulling one back before half time as Marjan Radeski fired wide before Athletic Bilbao stopper Kepa kept out Enes Bardhi’s effort.
They had actually had 16 attempts at goal during the opening period but only found the target on three occasions.
However, any hopes they had of launching an incredible comeback were quickly dashed when Asensio grabbed the fourth and secured his brace.
He danced into a shooting position and struck an effort via a deflection into the top corner.
GROUP B RESULTS AND FIXTURES
June 17 - Portugal 2 Serbia 0
June 17 - Spain 5 Macedonia 0
June 20 – Serbia vs Macedonia, 5pm
June 20 – Portugal vs Spain 7.45pm
June 23 – Serbia vs Spain, 7.45pm
June 23 – Macedonia vs Portugal, 7.45pm
The result takes Spain into top spot in Group B after the first round of matches, with Portugal sitting second after defeating Serbia 2-0 earlier in the afternoon.